Pits and Lotuses
by PrincesTomboy
Summary: It was a perfectly normal day, which means Dark Pit was having a rather bad day. When he finds something that makes him actually cheer up, everything might not be as it seems. Pit's a hero, but is it really right to save someone from a good mood; even if there's more going on? Specifically, if they're being mind controlled?
1. Every Day

_[[This is supposed to be as canon as possible; if I get something wrong, please tell me what and where the canon contradicts something I said! For instance, I can't find anything confirming or denying if Viridi uses Dark Pit's nickname, help? Thank you!]]_

* * *

 **Every Day**

"Pittoo!" Viridi yelled, hands cupped around her mouth to make it louder.

"…"

After a minute of silence, she let out an annoyed sigh. She crossed her arms and spoke in a relatively normal tone. "Fine, Daaark Piiit…!"

"Hm?" He looked up from his seat on the other side of the room, a book she'd forcibly given him about carnivorous plants in his hands, pretending he genuinely hadn't heard the times she'd tried getting his attention with that hated nickname.

"I'm so bored!" She leaned further back in her own seat, arms thrown upward. The seat she'd chosen, like many in her domain, had a plant or two growing on it and now its leaves were in her hair. "Can't you go get something?"

"What am I, an intern?" Dark Pit derisively held the book back up so he could read it instead of listening to her.

"You wanna be a hero, don't you?" Viridi persisted. "Well here's a quest; fetch me some cake!"

"I'm not an intern or a hero." Dark Pit flipped to the next page of the plant book, because the previous page was boring and not because he had finished reading it.

"You're a freeloader is what you are." Viridi huffed as she slid deeper into her chair, obviously lamenting giving him a place to stay; just not seriously enough to get up and kick him out, or anything that took effort like that. Instead, she employed the tactic she knew worked on all of these tall, stuck-up types. "Pleeease?"

"Eh?" He leveled a glare at her, lips curling into a sneer at her antics.

"Please please please ple-ease!" She leaned forward, lower lip trembling in a way they both knew wasn't genuine.

"You're annoying." He threw the book at her.

"Aah! Hey, have more respect; a tree died for this thing!"

"That just makes me want to set it on fire."

"Burning books is frowned upon by every culture, you know!"

"Meh." It was Dark Pit's turn to lean back, trying too hard to show he didn't care.

"… Alright, if you're gonna be a big baby, why don't I read to you?" Viridi smirked, and purposely held the book upside down. She read very slowly, and intentionally mispronounced every word with more than two syllables. "To be defined as carnivorous, a plant must first exhibit an adaptation of some trait specifically for the attraction, capture, or digestion of prey…"

"Ugh! Fine, you brat!" Dark Pit flung himself forward out of the seat, sick of her voice. "I'm leaving!"

"Bring back cake!" She called after him, making her voice into a sing-song.

"No way!"

* * *

There was a particular ledge in Skyworld that Dark Pit had taken to spending time on when he wanted to think. It was accessible by walking from either Palutena's Temple or Viridi's not-a-fancy-palace-temple home, so he could almost always get to it without having to rely on one of the goddesses' good wills to help him fly there. He hated having to do that, and furthermore considered the only thing worse than having to live somewhere based around flight with the disadvantage he'd inherited from Pit was having to live on the Overworld where nobody needed to fly but everything was awful and dumb. There weren't any more random monsters at his hangout like there apparently had been before he had been made and helped out with the latest war, which meant he was totally alone; just like he wanted.

Dark Pit walked to the edge of his private spot and plopped down with his feet dangling off the edge like he always did. He looked over the gorgeous view in front of him, sky everywhere; though it was better in the twilight, blue was the most boring color sky came in after all. A gentle breeze blew his hair back, and he closed his eyes. This was why he came out here, not just to stare longingly at open air but to be able to appreciate the sensations of nobody talking at him or wanting him to do something he didn't want to do. He leaned forward, relaxing slightly, and absentmindedly he spread his wings to feel the air current. Abruptly, and in a very unlikely event, the wind changed direction; his messed-up wings caught the breeze better from behind than from the front. Dark Pit squeaked in terror as he was suddenly pushed just enough by the sudden gust to slide off the ledge to the sheer drop downward.

He remembered every time something similar had happened, the trauma of this event spurring any relevant flashbacks as if he was unconsciously trying to remember how he'd not died last time. Someone had always been there to catch him when he'd left solid ground, whether it was Pit or Viridi. But nobody was there right now; he'd chosen to be alone. He didn't reflect on how this was why he needed friends, or even have it cross his mind that he wanted one of them to be there now to grab him. Instead, he panicked with deliberate intent and grabbed the ledge with flailing arms, hands clinging to the solid ground as firmly as he could manage. His wings batted wildly and did absolutely nothing, but he managed to get a hold on something with the toes of one foot. Sandals didn't have very good gripping strength, but it was enough.

His attempts to find somewhere for the other foot failed, leaving the limb dangling over open air. The foot that was secure wasn't quite secure enough that it would actually help, but Dark Pit would still have preferred that for both feet instead of one having nothing at all. He tried flinging himself back up in one movement using just his arms, and managed to barely move before one of his hands slipped from its grip. It was luckily on the opposite side from the free-hanging foot, or else he might have slipped all the way and fallen. He tried pulling himself up enough to get the other hand to hang on again, and failed twice before snagging somewhere firmer. Dark Pit took a moment to breathe, and to force his wings to stop moving around so he could put all his energy into not falling; his instincts told them to panic, but his instincts seemed to think he could fly and thus weren't actually helpful here.

It was slow-going clawing his way up; first having to use all his upper body strength with just his hands, only able to pull himself up a small amount with every expenditure of effort, before he'd managed to get a concrete enough hold with his feet to quickly push himself back to safety on the platform. He didn't stop getting to solid ground until he had gotten far away from the ledge, where he stayed on his hands and knees and let out rapid, harsh breaths; what had just happened shook him, to the point where he was literally shaking. He climbed to his feet after a while and begain to pace back and forth, waiting for the shakiness and his adrenaline to wear off. He wasn't shivering due to cold, but he found that rubbing his arms helped a bit and that his teeth insisted on chattering. Dark Pit cursed quietly, but he was careful not to accidentally summon some deity of wind by swearing at the wind that had caused this specifically; couldn't be too careful with all these obnoxious gods waiting for prayers. It took what felt like half an eternity for him to get over his fright enough to actually do anything or go anywhere. He felt like he should be so much better than this, he wasn't even physically injured there and yet he couldn't calm himself down; what an embarrassment!

* * *

The door slammed shut. "Did you bring cake?" Viridi expectantly called from the next room, having no trouble knowing who it was by process of elimination.

"Go away." Dark Pit grumbled.

"It's my house!" Viridi complained; he probably hadn't wanted her to hear, but he hadn't been talking quietly enough for her to miss it. Viridi stuck her tongue out at him for his choice of words, using her goddess projection powers to be sure he knew. She didn't wonder why he seemed more upset than usual, since she knew he wanted her to pay less attention to him and she wasn't going to put effort into something nobody wanted her to do.

The door to Dark Pit's room slammed shut.

* * *

Dark Pit walked slowly back to that spot he found special, having calmed down some from what had happened earlier. He wasn't about to forsake his ledge because of one incident, though it wouldn't be likely for him to dangle his legs off like that for a long time now. When he neared the place, however, he saw Pit already standing there; bouncing on his toes, and shielding his eyes from the sun with one hand in order to see the view that the spot offered. Pit had apparently heard his approach, and whirled around with his arms outstretched and a smile plain on his face.

"Oh, there you are Pittoo! Usually you're here earlier!" Dark Pit growled under his breath, annoyed that Pit apparently didn't know he was in the top three reasons Dark Pit came here at all.

"Don't call me that. Why're you even here, Pit?" He wanted to get this over with; today wasn't a day where he felt like he could deal with the quirky cast of characters he spent too much time with.

"I wanted to hang out!" Pit said. "You seem upset, so it'll be good for you, you know?"

"I'm 'upset' that you're bothering me, so why don't you go bother someone else?" Dark Pit put his hands on his hips and his nose in the air. "And anyway, you think I'm always upset, since I'm not constantly smiling like an idiot."

"Just because you've always got that wilted plant expression on doesn't mean I should just leave you to sulk around all day." Pit insisted, putting his own hands on his hips and pouting.

"Yes it does!" Dark Pit went from anger to the realization that he'd just agreed to Pit's insults about his frowning and sulking. "I mean- you- argh! Leave me alone and stop mocking me!"

"I wasn't trying to mock you, Pittoo, I-"

"And quit calling me that!" Dark Pit yelled louder than he usually did, fists clenched. The adrenaline rush from being in danger earlier was still going strong, and he wasn't coping with it very well at all.

"I'm your friend!" Pit finished his sentence without acknowledging Dark Pit's complaint. There was a pleading tone to his voice, his posing and expression were ridiculously earnest in wanting them to spend time together.

Dark Pit let out a long-suffering sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Your definition of a friend is a lot like my definition of stalker."

"Aw come on, friends are supposed to hang out!"

"Then where do I sign to stop being anyone's friend?" Dark Pit nodded once as if to seal the statement, or to imply a 'so there'.

"You can't just not have friends!" Pit was shocked. "What would you do if you were sad? You can't be saying that you don't ever like everybody else does!"

"I'd rather bleed!"

"Then a friend could help you patch yourself up!"

"I'll patch myself up! End. Of. Discussion!" Dark Pit turned away from the other angel. If Pit wasn't going to leave, then he would instead to get away from this moronic conversation.

"Pittoo, come on! Wait!" Pit took a token amount of steps forward, knowing that chasing his friend wouldn't help but not feeling okay with just letting him storm off. Dark Pit ignored him and sped up his pace.


	2. Dark

**Dark**

Dark Pit walked quickly, guided by where there was solid enough ground and not really paying attention. Anywhere but there had been his destination, and he was definitely somewhere else; he'd never been to this random part of Skyworld before, and found himself looking up at a big building that was really more of a tunnel. He wondered what it was for, guessing maybe it was so you could stay out of the rain or something and then walk on your way through the other side when it was clear again.

"What a stupid building." He said aloud, assuming his guess was correct. Having nothing else to do, he entered it to see what the inside was like; he wouldn't even have to stop walking forward to exit it again, which was convenient. That couldn't be the whole point of the building, though, that'd be even stupider than his first guess. "Stupid building, stupid Pit, stupid Viridi… Stupid gravity…"

He kicked a rock. It's skipping away, his footsteps, his loud and agitated breathing, he was the only thing he could hear in this building; there wasn't anyone nearby but him. He was definitely alone again, though unsurprisingly it didn't make him feel much better. He sighed to himself, and let his thoughts drift yet again to the inferiority he was feeling. It wasn't that he rationally thought anyone else could have handled being flightless and falling off a ledge better, but the general principles of being flightless and not having done perfectly made him so frustrated. Pit probably couldn't have done worse, but he at least always seemed to have something to smile about while his dark doppelganger seemed to only have negative experiences. It wasn't that Dark Pit wanted to try being a perky extrovert or fetch snacks for a goddess, but he couldn't help but feel like Pit would be coping a lot better with thinking about failure. Dark Pit knew he was wallowing in negativity and being ridiculous, which made him feel more ridiculous and made him wallow more. He was just a negative person, and he wasn't really having fun with that fact.

"Dark Pit."

Dark Pit started, looking around for the source of the unfamiliar voice that had spooked him out of his introspection. "Who's there?!" He quickly took out his bow and aimed an arrow forward, down the hallway to the other exit; there was no place to hide, but no one was visible, even though he knew the voice wasn't coming from behind him. He glanced back to be sure, and gritted his teeth at being unable to find anyone. "I'm not in a good mood, so don't try me."

"I'm not an enemy, I assure you." The voice was that of an adult male, the type that sounded almost too good-natured and probably wanted to sell something.

"That sounds like what an enemy would say." Dark Pit noticed a scent, and then noticed the pink petals sparsely scattered on the ground in front of them; he didn't think they'd been there a moment ago. "Flowers? Are you with the Forces of Nature?"

"No, Viridi and I aren't affiliated." Dark Pit could tell this speaker was shaking his head as he said that, apparently disappointed in the fact and maybe a little amused. Dark Pit figured the voice belonged to either someone who considered themselves a superior god of natural things, or someone who wished Viridi would notice him.

"Whatever; whoever you are, show yourself!" He eased up on the bowstring and then tightened it again, suddenly aware that threats were hard to make with this particular weapon.

"I'm afraid I can't." There was a pause, Dark Pit's expression got angrier as he waited for the explanation. "I don't technically exist in Skyworld, I'm afraid."

"Oh." Dark Pit scoffed. "One of these." If whoever he was talking to was some ancient being slash alien, and he didn't have reason to doubt that it was with the information he had, at least he could stop holding his arms up so tensely like that. He lowered the bow, but kept it out just in case he did get something to shoot at.

"I am one of the gods who dwell in the Dreamworld. My name is Menink."

"Never heard of you." Dark Pit raised an eyebrow. He wondered what sort of minor god in charge of an aspect of sleep had domain over flower petals; it sounded like a worse job than errand spirit.

Menink laughed at that for just a moment, something Dark Pit didn't comprehend. He wondered whether Menink might be laughing at his not knowing who the god was from a name, or his thoughts insulting the dream god, the latter of which was entirely possible but also worrying; Dark Pit didn't want anyone prying in there. "I'm afraid I am reading your thoughts. That's is how I'm communicating with you right now."

"So why don't you stop doing that and go bother some human with nightmares? Please, I insist." The vitriol behind the word please nearly dripped off his words.

"Because, dear Dark Pit, I have something I think you could use." Menink's words were soft, in a rather unsettling way like he thought Dark Pit was a kindergartener.

"Ha!" Dark Pit spoke the word in disbelief, with no actual laughter. "And what's that?"

"Flight."

Dark Pit's eyes dilated and he stood slightly at attention, all before he finished processing the words and tried to conceal his first reaction. "I already have access to the power of flight. Not interested."

Menink laughed again. "What I'm referring to is actual flight. No time limit, or limitations of any kind. It is your desire to fly freely, and I wish to give that to you."

"Well… I…" Dark Pit couldn't help but really, really want what Menink was offering. He gripped his bow tighter as he made sure to not be naive about this, swallowing before he spoke again. "Hmph. What's the catch?"

"There's not really a catch; giving people their dreams is my domain, after all. But I do require something from you for it to work." He waited while Dark Pit made another offended sound. "Simply your trust, nothing more; I don't need you to give me your soul, I promise. My magic just requires consent for it to work properly. Doesn't that make sense, you having to want something for me to give you what you want?"

"Yeah, I guess it makes sense." Dark Pit tried to be dismissive, aware that his fake hesitance didn't mean anything when Menink was reading his mind. "But how do I know this isn't some trick?"

"You may change your mind whenever you want, should you not want the kind of flight I offer or any baggage you think will come with it it will automatically stop working; such is the flaw to my powers."

Dark Pit couldn't find any holes in his words, though a natural level of suspicion still seemed necessary. "How's this work, exactly?"

"Relax, and let me show you." Menink's voice gained a purring quality to it; it was evident he was pleased at Dark Pit being willing to try.

* * *

Dark Pit put away his bow, not really sure about how to relax while clutching a weapon. He took a deep breath and let his eyes close, and next thing he knew he wasn't in that seemingly useless building anymore. Instead, he was standing on a tiny platform. All around him was endless sky. It was twilight out, rich oranges and pinks and purples painted across the horizon. The part of him that wasn't freaked out by what had just happened was a little impressed. That floral smell was also still there, suddenly very potent; a sweet, fruity sort of smell, it wasn't bad on its own but it smelled to Dark Pit a lot like he was far too close to someone wearing far too much perfume; he wondered if the entire platform was soaked in it. Still, even with the scent, it was a fascinating place.

"This," Menink spoke in a way that made it clear it was meant to go with grand hand gestures. "is my domain. In a different sense from fulfilling the dreams of others, of course. Welcome to the Dreamworld, Dark Pit."

"This place looks kind of familiar, actually." Dark Pit thought about it; he wasn't very good at remembering his dreams, but this was pretty close to how he remembered the best ones. "By the way, you're the only person not to use stupid nicknames on me. Good job."

"Thank you." Menink let out another chuckle. "Now, allow me to give an angel his wings." Menink meant metaphorically, of course. Dark Pit felt the very tips of his wings tingle, a similar feeling to soaking them in hot water but without the actual wetness. He bent one to get a better look at it, and pinkish wisps of aura were forming similar to Viridi's green or Palutena's blue. Though it was firmly in the pink category, the aura was probably supposed to be more of a red color compared to the Wings of Pegasus. As Menink's aura crawled down his wings, Dark Pit wondered if the new power he was receiving was more like that sacred treasure or like Pandora's powers he'd stolen, neither were available anymore but he'd gotten glimpses of what Menink was currently promising from what those could do. Remembering those made it seem more like this could actually happen.

The aura reached the base of Dark Pit's wings, and they began flapping. This wasn't how any goddess's aura had worked before, but none had actually advertised as working permanently so he was willing to just assume this was how the permanent way worked. It wasn't long before his feet left the ground and Dark Pit was airborne, a small smile appearing on his face as he realized it was really happening. "I'm flying!" He stated the obvious in surprise. He was completely focused on that fact; sure, there was no way to be absolutely sure this was everything Menink said it would be, but it was working so far. He rose gradually, and after a little while Dark Pit's astonishment wore off enough that he noticed two things; he had no control over his wings and thus didn't know how to control his flying, and he could feel the aura growing across his back. "Hey, wait, what's this about? This doesn't seem right." He forcibly flapped his wings, which dispelled some of the aura and made him land hard back on the platform with a wince of pain.

"You shouldn't do that!" Menink's voice sounded as if he was cringing. "If you fight against my magic, it can't let you fly."

Dark Pit hesitantly relaxed his wings again, and felt the aura re-gather. In a minute or two, he was back flying above the ground. "How am I supposed to get anywhere if I can't move my wings?" He objected.

"Please, allow me to demonstrate." Dark Pit, steered by his own wings instead of the other way around, suddenly took off away from the platform and into the sky. He glided down, curved up into a big loop, tilted so he was flying sideways or upside down for long stretches, doing all sorts of fun moves in general. The process definitely felt like more than the five minutes the power of flight normally gave, and Dark Pit wasn't not enjoying it. "Think of it as if I was pulling a chariot for you; all the getting somewhere without you having to do it. What do you think?"

"I sort of understand, but why can't I be the one flying?" Dark Pit was distracted by the actual act of being in flight, and still a bit unsure of this magic. The aura continued to grow, and it covering his torso as well as his wings added more of both; it was hard for him to be skeptical of things when random parts of him were being heated like they were, and there wasn't an explanation for why it was doing that.

"I'm afraid I'm not powerful enough to give you something detached from myself." Menink moved quickly from the answer to a question of his own. "But doesn't it feel nice, being able to lean back and enjoy the ride instead of having to pay attention for fear of crashing?"

Dark Pit considered, and found himself nodding to the words. He felt a lot better then he had before, so this method of flying was clearly helping; especially since the other option was no flying at all, and look where that got him. The aura finished covering him, which meant Menink was steering his entire body; it felt natural, just like how he normally flew but he could just lay back and enjoy the ride. Dark Pit now understood why he needed to relax everything, with just his wings being Menink's he didn't lean correctly into his movements and that caused some pain when he tried to strain his back against where his wings wanted it to go, or where his limbs naturally fell. He was still a bit hesitant, however, as that was simply his nature. "How do I know you won't fly me somewhere I don't want you to?"

"I can only do what you want me to, remember?"

"… Oh. Right…" He couldn't argue with that, Menink's words all made sense and the results were pleasant. Dark Pit suddenly smiled wide and let out a happy sigh, glad that he was free to fly with nothing to worry about.


	3. Light

**Light**

"I tried, Lady Palutena!" Pit complained, lying on his stomach where Dark Pit had left him with his forehead against the ground. "But he's just so…"

"Doom and gloom?" Palutena was still in her temple, communicating with her angel using a magical projection. "You might just have to give him time, Pit."

"How long does it take a guy to let people be friends?"

"Pittoo may be stubborn, but so are you. I'm sure he's come around eventually."

"Right, I'll just try harder until he sees it my way!"

"… Good luck." Her expression made it clear that wasn't what she meant, but Pit didn't seem to notice as she ended the conversation and her magic making it possible.

It wasn't long after their chat had ended that Dark Pit happened to come back to the area. "Hi, Pit!"

"Pittoo, there you are!" He grinned, not immediately noticing the strangely light tone to Dark Pit's greeting. But when he stood up and looked at his clone, he saw that his clone was looking very uncharacteristic. Dark Pit had a pink aura about him, and Pit couldn't help but notice he was apparently wearing perfume since he smelled like a lotus blossom. But more than that, he seemed so happy and peaceful in a way Pit had literally never seen before. "Whoa, what happened? You actually seem… cheery!"

"Yeah, I guess I am." Dark Pit shrugged and grinned wider.

"What is it? Must be good if it's got you this happy this fast!" Pit was glad to see him like this, Dark Pit never really smiled on an average day; and Pit could tell this wasn't the kind of happy he got when he got into some big fight, like it usually was with the clone.

"I, Dark Pit," Dark Pit put a hand to his chest and paused for dramatic effect, seemingly unable to stop beaming. "Have been given infinite flight."

"No way! Does that mean you're like Kirby now?" Pit chuckled to himself. Pink, unlimited flying, he's been an enemy and an ally to Pit on occasion, it fit well enough as a comparison.

"I guess so? And it's true!" Dark Pit looked slightly hurt at being doubted, a very different reaction from what Pit expected to happen. "More importantly, you can get the power-up too!"

"It would be pretty great to fly without needing help from Lady Palutena! But is it really that easy?"

"Mmhm!" Dark Pit was very enthusiastic in his nodding. "It's amazing, Pit!" He sighed dreamily.

"If it's got you this excited it must be! I wonder if you'd even act this happy if you got a crush on someone…" Pit thought out loud.

Dark Pit shrugged and laughed, Pit wasn't sure but thought it sounded a lot like a giggle more than anything else. "I dunno, but hey, come on and let's go!"

"What, now? Well, alright, if you say so Pittoo!" Dark Pit grabbed his doppelganger's hand and the pair started running. Pit did his best to keep up, and had just learned how Dark Pit or others must feel when he did this sort of thing to them. "Hey, if we wanna hurry to wherever we're going why don't you just fly me?"

"We're here, we're here!" Dark Pit bounced with anticipation. All Pit could see was an empty hallway sort of structure. Dark Pit pulled him indoors, to a spot a short way's inside littered with lotus petals.

"Hello, my dear angels!" Came the jovial voice. "And hello, Pit."

"Hi?" Pit couldn't tell where the voice was coming from, but that wasn't surprising; a god that could grant infinite flight could obviously use the same powers he'd had multiple goddesses use on him, that just made sense. What he was slightly confused about, however, was that he had apparently not been counted in the category of 'angels', but he assumed that was just a strange way words happened to work.

"So, you wish to fly freely?" The voice asked.

"It really is freeing…" Dark Pit definitely sounded love-struck.

"Y-yeah, I do!" Pit agreed. "Who wouldn't?" This sort of back-alley gift giving was a bit strange to him, mostly because he hadn't had to fight a boss to get it, but Dark Pit made it clear something good was being offered even if it wasn't how one normally got things around here.

"Then allow me to show you the way!" Nothing happened. "… Ah, you're still a bit hesitant. I'm afraid you literally have to wish for something for me to grant it, so please do try to relax."

"Eh heh, oops! Sorry!" Pit offered a grin in a random direction to try and look apologetic, and took a few deep breaths. "Hit it!"

"With pleasure."

* * *

Without any discernable change, both Pits had been moved to a tiny platform in a giant pink and purple sky. "Eee!" Dark Pit was clearly pleased with this. "You're gonna love it, Pit!"

"You keep telling me…" Pit stepped up to the edge of the platform and looked down, which was an uncannily similar sensation to looking up since everything was just open air.

"Please, keep still and allow my magic to work, dear Pit."

"Wow, did you just use all your verbal tics at once?" Pit did what he was told, after getting back to the middle of the platform just in case. He soon felt a tingle, and looked over to see the god's pink aura forming around his wingtips. "Lady Palutena's magic just kinds of shows up and makes my wings glowy, but I guess this must be pretty different from the five minute kind she does."

"Mm." It was a vague grunt of agreement; this god was apparently focusing more on the magic spell to give him flight than having a conversation with the angel. Pit tried not to fidget too much as he waited for something to actually happen, and in the meantime ended up staring at Dark Pit who was happily staring at him. It could have been a staring contest but Dark Pit was blinking too often.

After the awkward wait time, the god's aura and related strangely hot-springs-like sensations finished covering Pit's wings and they began to flap on their own. "Wah?! Mmy wings grew a mind of their own!"

"That's how it works!" Dark Pit joyfully reassured his counterpart, following him up with his own wings flapped by the god and not the angel.

"Oh no, I get it, I'm just amazed Pittoo's alright with it!"

"As long as everyone's happy, no?" The god asked. Dark Pit giggled again.

"So I can fly as much as I want, but you have to steer, huh? Let's fly!" And they were off. Random moves across the air, big loops and zig-zags, both Pits having fun. Pit was impressed, they'd definitely been in the air for over five minutes now and he didn't even have to pay attention to do the flying since someone else was navigating for him and Pittoo. " Wheee! I can't wait to show this to-"

"Pit!" Palutena's guidance echoed around him, stirring him from his relaxation. It was a good thing he wasn't the one flying, or maybe just that there was nothing to crash into if he had been flying and gotten distracted.

"Huh? Lady Palutena?" Pit was surprised to hear from her here. It ruined the surprise, is what it did.

"That's Menink." Palutena began. "He has domain over dreams, he usually does his job as expected but he has a nasty streak of vying for power. I have no doubt that's what he's doing here, so don't let him trick you!"

"I'm not sure I get it." Pit pondered her words. "Vying for power? This guy wants to take over the world by giving us cool stuff?"

"You saw how Pittoo was acting, right? That isn't natural. If Menink succeeded and got everyone to act like that, he'd be a dictator over a society that couldn't function." She had a look on her face that would have told someone other than Pit she wasn't telling the whole truth, but this was the short version and close enough for the situation. "Besides, you're not even awake right now; you're in the Dreamworld, which is like his Underworld. Nothing you're seeing right now is actually happening."

"That does sound bad when you put it like that!" He agreed, believing his goddess implicitly. "So I have to stop him, huh?" He grinned sheepishly, embarrassed both that he'd needed that spelled out for him and that he'd just been having fun with a bad guy.

"Go get him Pit!" She agreed, giving him a smile before ending their communication.

"Alright, Menink!" Pit called out, taking control over his body back. He expected to drop onto the platform immediately below, but found he kept flying; this must be the power of the Dreamworld, not Menink's own! "Now show yourself!"

The pause was long and tense, before Menink did choose to reveal himself; a bit taller than Palutena, he had curly indigo hair flowing over his shoulders and a pink toga. There were lotuses in his hair, he had the wings of a demon a pinkish gray color, and he had horns; one white, one dark. He looked disappointed more than anything else, like Pit had just cheated at a board game or kicked a puppy. "Have you decided against my offer?"

"Flying around might be fun, but I'd never abandon my morals because of that!" He pointed dramatically at Menink. "I won't stop saving the world to play video games, and I definitely won't stop saving the world for you! So let us go before I have to make you!"

"We? I'm afraid you're mistaken. I don't control Dark Pit, and neither do you. He wants this." Menink smirked.

Pit looked at his clone, who was hovering nearby under Menink's power not paying much attention to the drama in front of him. Now that Pit had the whole story, the clone's bliss was more bitter than sweet. "Pittoo, come on and snap out of it!"

"Hm?" Dark Pit tilted his head. "You heard the man, I'm not leaving." This made things worse; Dark Pit was clearly still in there, and he didn't wanna.

"But you have to!" Pit was growing less cheerful by the second thanks to everything that was happening.

"And that's bad?" Dark Pit chuckled, amused by how wrong he thought Pit was.

"Yes!" Pit realized he was basically having a tantrum at this point and dialed back the concern for his clone. "You can't just stay like this, Pittoo! Lady Palutena, Viridi, I need you as you, not a you being puppeted by this Menink guy!"

"And why should I care what you morons want?" He asked. "You don't do things I ask, so why should I?"

"W-well," Pit didn't have a good answer. "Because this is really important! He-" Pit was cut off.

"Why can't I just be selfish?!" The dark angel yelled. That was when Pit noticed; tears were welling up in Dark Pit's eyes. This clearly meant a lot more to him than Pit had assumed. The lighter angel was taken aback, and took a deep breath before speaking again.

"He's evil!" Pit felt forced to yell back, realizing he hadn't been mentioning the important part before. "Lady Palutena says this is a lie to get us to join his army!"

Dark Pit hesitated. Patulena, Viridi, even Pit… bringing them up didn't seem relevant to him. But he remembered Pandora, and nobody was ever going to get to use him for some evil scheme, even if they did offer benefits! He was servant to no other but himself, after all! It was hard to make his decision, but his morals won out quickly enough.

"Hmph, I guess you can't trust anybody." Dark Pit crossed his arms, flapped his wings, and repositioned himself, shedding the pink aura and clearing his mind along with it to fly of his own power next to his light counterpart.

"Eh?! That's not what I meant…" Pit frowned, upset that this triumph was being tarnished by his copy's downer attitude. "Oh, whatever. You ready to fight?!"

"You know it!" Dark Pit yelled, and they both brandished their weapons.

"Do you have a speech prepared?" Menink smiled.

Pit tilted his head. "You're not mad?"

"No, I'm not a sore loser. But I'm afraid I'm not going to fight you."

"We'll see about that!" Dark Pit readied an attack, though he wasn't jumping into battle just yet.

Menink ignored the outburst. "I don't want you dead, or to be killed. I've already lost, so you're free to go. This battle is already over."

Pit and Dark Pit exchanged glances. As before, he had a good point and his words made sense. Unlike before, they weren't gonna take it. "Get him!" Menink squeaked in fear as arrows were launched at him.

* * *

A moment before the volley hit, the angels found themselves back in the empty hallway in Skyworld. "What a loser." Dark Pit griped.

"At least that's over with." Pit scratched the back of his head. He had wanted to talk to Dark Pit more about what had just happened, but the dark angel ran off almost immediately. "… Huh." Pit wondered why he always did that.


	4. Another Day

**Another Day**

Dark Pit sat where he usually spent time alone, staring out in front of him and thinking. He'd learned something; if something's too good to be true, it probably is. Being naive and optimistic like that was Pit's job, and Dark Pit was going to be sure to be even less trusting in the future. He'd gritted his teeth and dug his fingernails into his arms from crossing them too hard, still bitter about the whole thing.

"H-hey!" Pit ran up when Dark Pit hadn't noticed, getting the last bit closer after getting his attention. "Hey! Listen, I uhh… I'm sorry."

Dark Pit raised an eyebrow, but didn't speak, and after a pause where Pit didn't see any reaction he kept going.

"I never really thought about how, how hard some things are for you. You kind of forget you're not the only person with feelings sometimes, you know? It's not like I wanted to make you upset back there, or give you a hard time in general, but even though I'm trying to be funny and nice and stuff I've been thinking about it recently and it's really no wonder you get mad at me when I make fun of you and stuff! I wouldn't like being teased either, even though we're both not very sensitive. So…" He scrunched up his nose, like he wasn't quite okay with what he was going to do. "I'm sorry, Dark Pit." It was obvious calling someone else a Pit was weird for him.

If something too good to be true, then as far as Dark Pit was concerned, it probably is. But, for things like Pit where they had really obvious flaws and were barely tolerable at times, at least Dark Pit knew he could trust that. After all, if he didn't like these people very much deep down, he'd stop hanging out with them. And Pit had even decided to drop the worst word Dark Pit had ever heard, apparently, which meant he could learn and was trying to actually make Dark Pit feel better. Maybe, Dark Pit thought, he should do the same; it's not really getting along if only one of you is trying, right?

"… Hey." Dark Pit spoke, after too long a silence for it to even seem connected to Pit's awkward but sincere apology. He'd put his hands down onto the floor, and eased up on his general body language a bit.

"Yeah?"

Dark Pit stood, and turned around to face the other angel. "You… wanna do something? Like play video games, or…" He almost said they could go and have tea, but thought better of it before he'd actually said that out loud. "Hot springs?"

"Ooh! Hot springs!" Pit agreed, nodding excitedly.

"How'd I know you'd want that one…" Dark Pit didn't even try to make it sound like a real question. He took the few steps necessary to reach Pit, and they began walking vaguely next to each other in the general direction of the hot springs.

"I'm glad you accept my apology." Pit grinned at Dark Pit, and Dark Pit he saw some smug satisfaction in that face. As if Pit had won anything! Well, he'd won a trip to the hot springs apparently, but Dark Pit still refused to let that count. He just grunted in reply.

"So, I hear you had a bit of trouble today." Viridi broadcast into Dark Pit's head, suddenly pulling attention away from Pit had he any more to say about the same thing.

"There's been gossip?" Dark Pit was offended, or at least preparing to be offended if Palutena had seriously been sharing this embarrassing story with random people he'd never met.

"Palutena thought I should be aware since I'm, her words, taking care of you now."

"You're doing no such thing."

"That's what I said! But anyway, Menink huh? That guy's a jerk, he used to keep giving me dreams about desserts he knew I didn't have so I'd be disappointed when I woke up and wanted a snack! Glad you two knocked him down a peg!"

"You have an eating problem."

"Shut up, I'm trying to compliment you! And don't act like you don't like cake, everybody likes cake."

"Meh." Dark Pit shrugged. "So is this just a 'a winner is you' message or is there a point? And don't say you're saying I still have to bring back cake."

"Please, I can get my own cake! Or order somebody else to who'll actually get me some. Either way, I just wanted to tell you, and I'm really going out of my way to be heartfelt and junk here! What I'm saying is, Menink gets in everybody's head and you two got him out. You did good."

"Whatever, you can tell me stuff like that when I get back." Dark Pit ignored that he was ever so slightly blushing.

"Oh fine, ungrateful freeloader…" She clearly took offense, but was apparently actually saving it for when he went home. Viridi, in a manner of speaking, ended the call.

"Is that what I sound like with Palutena?" Pit asked, who had stopped and stared when Dark Pit had started replying to Viridi and failed to keep walking.

"Shut up." Dark Pit shoved him to get them both walking again. Pit responded by running forward and doing a little leap of joy, presumably just that excited for hot springs.

"Alright, let's go Pittoo!" Dark Pit opened his mouth to object. "Oops! Dark Pit!"

"Hmph… at least you're trying."

* * *

 _[[Everyone quickly forgot the lessons in friendship they learned, and life went on as normal. However, Pit and Dark Pit inexplicably had very good dreams for the next week. Thanks for reading!]]_


End file.
